new south wales Iluka End Of Sept

[Aal]

I have some time off end of September and looking for a trip. I was wondering if you guys have any advice for Iluka around that time? Kind of in between seasons so not sure what one would target?

[Darren Keep]

a lot of flathead around that time

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Aal said:

I have some time off end of September and looking for a trip. I was wondering if you guys have any advice for Iluka around that time? Kind of in between seasons so not sure what one would target?

Hi Aal

Welcome to the site mate. As Darren said ideal time to catch flathead at that time of year, you haven't mentioned  if you are land based or have a boat, if you have a boat plenty of places to try as the Clarence is a big river system, if you are land based you will still have plenty of options, also an ideal time of year to pick up whiting further up the river this time of year.

I haven't fished the area for a number of years however it is a terrific place to spend your time. Another option is just to search google for tips on fishing the area as there is a lot of info on the net.

Hope you have some luck.

MSB

 

[Aal]

thanks mate, looks like it is worth while then. I will be land based. (although might look to see if there is a tinnie hire). Any common spots you could recommenced for me to start off with? I've read online that apparently end of Goodwood Island Road is good for flatties? and that there are yabbies around there? 

I know nets are not allowed in NSW, can I buy a bait trap at the bait shop or anything for livies?

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Aal said:

thanks mate, looks like it is worth while then. I will be land based. (although might look to see if there is a tinnie hire). Any common spots you could recommenced for me to start off with? I've read online that apparently end of Goodwood Island Road is good for flatties? and that there are yabbies around there? 

I know nets are not allowed in NSW, can I buy a bait trap at the bait shop or anything for livies?

Hi Aal

Two spots that I fished land based whenever I holidayed there was the rocks area that divides  Shark Bay and Woody Heads, you can walk out at low tide and fish the run in for the first 2 hours for flathead and whiting, rocks are scattered all over the place so you just have to work the area, other spot is River Rd on Palmers Island on the Yamba side of the Clarence River, rocks walls run all along River Road and I used to fish for flathead last 2 hours of the run out and for whiting first 2 hours of the run in, as far as catching livies go you can use a jig at Browns Wharf, lots of herring and small tailor, or alternatively, you can buy a plastic bait trap or make one yourself , lots of videos on the web about how to make your own and the sort of areas to place them in. Word of warning about fishing Iluka and Yamba, if you go at school holiday time you will have plenty of company.

MSB 

[Drop Bear]

Hey mate there is a great map in the thread below that shows lots of spots and what to target.

I hope you have a great trip, it is such a great area.

If you want some more inspiration search Yamba on the home page and there are loads of threads about the place. 

Good luck

 

 

[Aal]

thanks for the help, will let you all know how i go.

[Aal]

Hi All, 

 Just came back from  a week at Iluka and I had an awesome time. The fishing wasn't the best as the conditions were really tough. Big winds on the beaches and a good sweep made them basically unfishable for the most part. The river was really clear, which was beautiful to see, but meant the fishing was pretty quite. The flatties/whiting haven't shown up in numbers just yet and the bream/tailor were mostly gone, so was basically right in between seasons. You always hear of a few people catching that 95cm flatty etc, but those are the locals with boats etc who have been in the area for years and know exactly where to go and when. Also ran into a guy just plucking out blackfish, what seemed like at will. He reckons it takes about a couple of years to get proficient at it.

 That being said, I still did manage to catch bit more than a dozen or so bream and a flattie. All which tasted pretty good pan fried. Most of the bream were caught up at Browns rocks. The flattie was in the Iluka bay, I must have just luckily dropped a bait right on its head. The highlight would have been the 46-47cm, 1.4kg bream that i caught though, smashed my PB by a long shot and was an awesome fight, went for 2-3 good runs on my light gear. 

  The place wasn't that crowded either, so it was very comfortable.

  Looking forward going back there in the summer for some whiting and maybe next winter to chase that dream jewie.

 

[Old Scaley]

Thanks for the report @Aal. Sounds like an absolute horse of a bream!

[ellicat]

Sounds like a nice relaxing time was had. The less people the better in my books.

That's a big bream. Must've been great fun angling it in.

[benno573]

Nice one mate. Sounds like a cracking trip. That’s a big bream for that area. Fairly lightly conditioned for that length though, probably trying to feed up again post spawning. Glad you got a few, look forward to more reports from your trips soon!

[Aal]

17 hours ago, benno573 said:

Nice one mate. Sounds like a cracking trip. That’s a big bream for that area. Fairly lightly conditioned for that length though, probably trying to feed up again post spawning. Glad you got a few, look forward to more reports from your trips soon!

spot on mate, you know your bream quite well. I didn't realize, but a guy came up and had a chat when I went to clean the fish, he was saying how thin it was and it must have been travelling a lot and hadn't yet settled in an area to feed.

 

I've got some time off first week of November, any recommendations at that time of year for Iluka or generally the norther half of NSW coast? whiting is the prevalent fish to target then?